


Pass without Trace

by Elsinore_and_Inverness



Category: Discworld
Genre: Academia, Gen, Minor Injuries, Swordfights
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:35:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25770688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elsinore_and_Inverness/pseuds/Elsinore_and_Inverness
Summary: Vetinari leaned back and put his feet on the table. “I’ve had a bit of a morning.”
Relationships: Havelock Vetinari & Lord Downey, Lord Downey/Havelock Vetinari
Comments: 4
Kudos: 26





	Pass without Trace

The Guild library was as good a place as any to cry. It wasn’t exactly public, but it was more dramatic, and consequently less sad, than crying alone in your room. It was part and parcel of graduate education.

Havelock slid into the place opposite Downey at the table, which had low dividers on it to show it wasn’t courteous to cover the whole table with your stuff when there was room for four people.

“Are you having a crisis?” Vetinari’s approach to comfort seemed decidedly rehearsed, but in Downey’s experience it was more moving than the attempts of people who never looked at the pages. 

“I’m eligible for honors.” Downey said morosely.

“That’s nice. I wasn’t.”

“You weren’t?”

“Not for the MA. I was away and Lord Snapcase caused a massive backlog in the postal service.”

“Well, I’m eligible but my advisor says my paper isn’t. I don’t know how to make it better. I don’t think I can do ‘exceptional’ or ‘a significant contribution to knowledge.’”

“All that’s just flattery. The school flattering itself. You just have to— Can I take a look at the paper?”

“I‘d rather you didn’t.” Downey covered the paper in front of him with his arms.

“What’s it on?”

“Inorganic cyanides.”

“Okay,” Vetinari seemed a bit lost now.

“That means cyanide salts, like sodium cyanide and potassium cyanide and their acidified states. They’re used in the process of mining gold and silver. For gold it’s a redux reaction—“

“Surely you’re not turning in a description.”

“I’m looking at cases where spies have used their suicide capsules on others.”

“Then lead with that!”

“My advisor says...”

“Narrativia is abandoning you as we speak. No one wants to read lists of chemical equations.” 

“I want to read lists of chemical equations.” 

Vetinari smiled. “There’s records of what you’re looking for. You can get them from Unseen University.”

“We’re not allowed in Unseen University.”

“Liam, are you an assassin or aren’t you?”

Havelock’s use of his first name seemed to send unfamiliar, pleasant shocks across Downey’s nervous system. 

“They’re always killing people in Unseen University.” This ought to have been part of the appeal, but it felt like trespassing on a complex independent system.

Vetinari leaned back and put his feet on the table. “I’ve had a bit of a morning.”

“Guards from the palace?”

“These ones were relentless. I think the hiring procedure has changed.”

Downey finally rubbed at the tear-tracks on his face. “Oh good, at least Havelock’s entertained,” he sneered. 

Vetinari unbuttoned the top of his shirt to show a red line still dotted with blood. “It is rather difficult to parry a rapier and gauche-main with one knife when you’ve been running away for thirty minutes and haven’t had any breakfast.”

“Did you— wash wound with salt water— have food—“

“So I was on Upper Broadway when I saw them coming up from the Palace, so I turned onto Cunning Artificers—“

“Away from the Guild.”

“They didn’t need to know I was an Assassin. Then there were more of them coming up from that direction so—“

“You were up a wall. On Cunning Artificers. When you could have just ducked inside and dropped some cash on a disguise.” Downey closed his eyes as he shook his head at this foolishness. When he looked across the table there seemed to be no one there. The chairs on the other side stood in the deep shadow of a bookshelf.

“I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve,” the shadow on the left informed him. “Unfortunately I hadn’t managed to entirely reach the state of detachment I like to be in when I’m fighting.”

“Slow inside, fast outside.”

“Quite. So one of them saw the light off my knife because my hand was doing this,” the shadow held out a pale hand and voluntarily made the muscles tremble. “They shot at me so I dropped back down to the ground. I got to the archway leading onto that little square near Short Street. Then I could take them one at a time in the narrow corridor.” Vetinari sighed. “I would prefer to just be able to get away and be left alone. Snapcase will replace them.” 

“Were you scared?”

Vetinari leaned forward, fully visible once again. “I think fear happens when the tension lets up. In the moment you’re just surviving. Of course you’re aware, he could kill me, I could die here. Or rather, he could kill someone, but not me.”

“I don’t like close combat with weapons.”

“I’ve noticed that. Fortunately, at Unseen University they prefer traps.”

“You’re really going to think less of me if I don’t go find books at the wizard library.” Downey sighed.

Vetinari actually laughed, a breathy, bell-like sound. “I’m trying to _help_ , you may have heard of the concept.”

“If they kill me it’s your fault.”

“When you’re accepted as a doctoral student you’ll owe me a favor.”


End file.
